


Death comes with a lion

by MariaPurt



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 22:51:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11542074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MariaPurt/pseuds/MariaPurt
Summary: A what if story. Regina runs away with her soulmate and is about to get her happy ever after. Tinker Bell is happy, but the king isn't. WARNING: dark & violent.





	Death comes with a lion

The sundown slowly turned into the night, hiding the kingdom in the darkness. The air inside the tower became frosty as if it had been any warmer with the sun shining through a small window. It was the last one, she thought sadly. The woman sat in the middle of a big hall, her head down, her breath shallow, her bare feet freezing. Her fragile posture shivering with silent sobs, hands hidden within the dirty dress that once upon a time looked beautiful and regal. It used to be white, with the mesmerizing ornaments of the precious stones, just as its owner who was sitting on a cold dirty floor of the tower used to be the queen of this castle.

Her long black hair was messy and drained with blood. Her shoulders were high and her spine was straight – more of an attempt to avoid unnecessary pain than the idea of looking royal. She didn't really care how she looked these days – with all the misery her husband – king Leopold – had put her through it just didn't matter. For the second time in her life she'd lost a loved one. Nothing mattered…

People said he was a good man, a kind man. But sitting there with her back scarred of the countless whips delivered on the central square of the castle Regina couldn't see any kindness in that man.

Of course he'd been angry at her – she'd had no doubt he would be. And as much as she had no illusions of what would happen if the king ever caught her running away with a lover, she was still shocked at just how brutal he'd turned. Leopold used to be a loving husband. Sometimes ignorant, sometimes gentle. Sometimes she'd even liked him and then she'd remember what this marriage had cost her, what she'd sacrificed in the name of this kingdom; and it would all come back to haunt her during those long lonely nights when his majesty was having fun with his peasants whom he graciously called friends.

Regina missed Daniel, dear god she even missed her mother whom she hated enough to throw into the wonderland without a second thought. The Dark One though was always there for her, ever since she chose the path he was willing to show her. He was evil. The young broken queen didn't mind. She embraced the blackness as if it was warm and tender. And maybe it was really it: the need to be cared for. Cared about.

And now her dress was covered with her own blood, torn apart like an old rag doll that no one wanted to play with, revealing the woman's bruised belly and upper arms. Her wrists were skinned from the ropes they'd tied her to the pole with. For her punishment. For the kings pleasure. He could just execute her for an adultery as the law suggested, but it wasn't all that simple. It was as if her husband was suddenly possessed.

When they first chained her to a wall and left her there for the people to avenge their beloved king's pride, Regina got hit by sticks and stones. The crowd was angry. Obviously her mother was right: they never loved her as their queen, she was too weak.

But every next time the guards would leave the unfaithful wife and an unfit queen out for the citizens to punish her, less and less people would be interested. That was also when Regina had stopped asking what happened to the man who she was caught with. He was most probably dead, God, she hoped he was. Their love was short. Their run for freedom was even shorter. Their fate was to taste the happiness and lose it…

Eventually people of the kingdom no longer hated her, but pitied. That was when her soon to be widowed husband ordered to give her several dozens of lashes for the whole kingdom to see. He would show no mercy for a cheating woman. She'd screamed, she'd begged for a quick death, and the crowd wouldn't understand such cruelty of the king…

When it was all over, Regina probably fainted because she didn't remember being carried back to her prison. She found herself lying on the floor with a guard standing over her. He was watching.

"I'm sorry, You Majesty," the man said softly once he'd noticed her eyes opening. She struggled to get up only to scream again in agony. "Your execution has been announced. The sunrise."

He sighed and exited the room. Soon the physician came in, an ancient woman whom Regina had never seen before. This wasn't the king's doctor, it wasn't the king wanting to ease Regina's pain. It was probably the guard who felt sorry for a young girl who was about to spend her last night in agony.

And there it was, her last night had just begun. The sun was now gone, and the fresh air caressed the soon to be dead queen's wet cheeks. She was crying, childishly. She'd been a child when she was forced to marry the king, and she was a child now. The one who'd never actually lived. The child who'd lost everything without ever having anything. Her love. Her freedom. Her life…

"Regina?" a familiar voice broke through the silence and echoed in the empty room.

The fallen queen rose her head to face the speaker. There she was, slowly flying towards her, this little green… monster.

"You!" Regina breath out, her eyes filling with hate and anger, her lips trembling. "You…" she tried to move and immediately got reminded of just how damaged her body was. Wincing and biting her lip till the blood colored her pale skin, the former queen fell back down, but this move was enough for the uninvited guest to see the woman's foot being chained to the floor.

"Oh my god, what happened to you?" the voice said, panic rising with every next word. With this, the small flying creature landed onto the floor, hiding her shiny wings and turning into a human, her dress glowing with magic.

"I met you!"

The end.


End file.
